This research investigated the identification ability of English voiceless fricatives by Japanese listeners with high and low English proficiency. A perceptual experiment was carried out in five listening environments: RT (Reverberation Time) = 0.78 s, 1.12 s, 1.43 s, RT = 0.78 s + background noise at SNR (Signal-to-Noise ratio) = 10 dB, and quiet. Correct identification rates were calculated a...

Hispanic children with (n=148) and without (n=148) limited English proficiency were given the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT; J. A. Naglieri. 1997a) and the Stanford Achievement Test-9th edition (SAT-9: 1995). The groups were selected from the NNAT standardization sample (N=22.620) and matched on geographic region, gender, socioeconomic status, urbanicity. and ethnicity. There was a very...

BACKGROUND With increasing globalisation, the challenges of providing accessible and safe healthcare to all are great. Studies show that there are substantial numbers of people who are not fluent in English to a level where they can make best use of health services. We examined how health professionals manage language barriers in a consultation. METHODS AND FINDINGS This was a cross-sectional...

Second language (L2) learners tend to speak slower at every level of linguistic analysis, often in an uneven tempo, with longer pauses at the start and before some words and constructions, than is typical of native speech. As noted by Zhang & Elder [1], native listeners focus on phonological fluency in making judgments about L2 proficiency. Improved understanding of how fluency grows with progr...

The present study examined to what extent proficiency in a non-native language influences speech perception in noise. We explored how English proficiency affected native (Swedish) and non-native (English) speech perception in four speech reception threshold (SRT) conditions, including two energetic (stationary, fluctuating noise) and two informational (two-talker babble Swedish, two-talker babb...

This study examined the association between English language proficiency and health outcomes in a regional probability sample (n = 205) of elderly Chinese and Korean immigrants. Data support that these two Asian ethnic subgroups differ in English proficiency and health-related quality of life. Chinese and Korean elders had poorer health than the national norms, and poor English proficiency was ...

Previous studies have shown that some English vowel contrasts remain difficult for English learners to perceive. This study investigated three potential factors affecting vowel perception: cross-language vowel systems, spectral distance, and language proficiency, for the discrimination and identification of English /ɪ/-/ε/, /ε/-/æ/, /ʊ/-/ʌ/, and /ʌ/-/ɒ/ contrasts in four groups of listeners: L1...

the present study examined the factor structure of the university of tehran english proficiency test (utept) that aims to examine test takers’ knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. a structural equation modelling (sem) approach was used to analyse the responses of participants (n= 850) to a 2010 version of the test.  a higher-order model was postulated to test if the unde...